Rev John Edward Vize 1831-1916
John Edward Vize was born at the family home in Crawford Street St Mary-le-Bone on 7 March 1831, the eldest child of John Vize (1804-1840) of Rotherhithe, Surrey and Matilda Lucy (1797-1837) of Stratford On Avon, Warwickshire1. John was baptised at the local church of St Mary’s on 18 March 18312, and unusually, he was also baptised in Atherstone, Warwickshire on 8 January 18323. It seems that John and Matilda went to visit Matilda’s sister Mary Power4 at this time and the baptism may have been performed for the benefit of the Lucy family members in Warwickshire (Matilda’s mother was still living at this time). Both families were relatively well-off middleclass tradespeople. Matilda received a financial settlement from her father’s estate when she married John5. He had funds sufficient to establish a business in 1830, prior to this he had worked as a schoolmaster6. At the time of John’s birth his father was working as a bookseller7 and circulating library8 operator in St Mary-le-Bone. By 1832 the business was not going well and John senior becames insolvent9. His father had to return to teaching10 to make a living and it seems the family had to move to Mill Hill in Hendon, then a quiet rural area to the north of London. It was here that John’s brother William was born in 183311. The family moved to Guildford Place, Kennington shortly after William’s birth and it was at St Mark’s Kennington Oval that he was baptised on 2 November 183312. The parish register shows his father’s occupation as schoolmaster13. By 1835 the family had moved again, settling in Foster Place off Bedford Road in Clapham. John’s sister Lucy Lockwood Vize was born here and baptised at St Mark’s on 2 August 183514. John’s father John continued to work as a schoolmaster at this time15. The family stayed on at Foster Place and in 1837 a third son was born, Charles Lucy Vize16. By this time John’s mother was quite unwell with tuberculosis17, affecting both the health of the baby and her own. They both died within days of each other and were buried at St Matthew’s Brixton on 26 August 183718. At this time John Edward was 6, William Henry was 3 and Lucy Lockwood was 2 years old. In August 1938 John’s grandmother Esther Vize died19, leaving to her three surviving children the assets from their father’s brewing business – mainly savings in the Bank of England. At this time the family was still living at Foster Place in Clapham20. John continued to work as a schoolmaster and moved the family to Tower Hamlets in South Hackney some time before March 184021. Sharing the same tenement with the Vize’s was William Lockwood, probably Esther’s brother (John’s uncle) and his wife Ann22. William also worked as a schoolmaster23 and the Lockwoods may have helped with the children. On 28 March 1840 John died, also from tuberculosis24, leaving the three children aged 9, 6 and 5 years, orphans. It was John’s uncle William Lockwood that registered his death25. John was buried at St Matthew’s with Matilda and Charles26. In 1841 they were still living in the tenement in South Hackney and described as having “independent means”27. This is most likely the funds left by their grandmother and grandfather. Matilda’s mother Ann also dies in 1840 and may have left small legacies to family members. It appears that the children stayed on in Hackney, possibly under the care of the Lockwoods, as John Edward reportedly attended Hackney Grammar28. This would appear to be the Church of England Grammar School established in 1830 and later amalgamated with King’s College29. It was probably this amalgamated school the boys attended. Lucy went to live with her aunt Mary Power (Matilda’s sister) in Atherstone, Warwickshire30 and the two boys went on to their respective careers: John started out as an accountant31 in London and William undertook an apprenticeship with a druggist32. By 1854, though not formally qualified, John was working as a curate in Bath33. Here he met Hannah Louisa Ashley (1818-1912)34 and though she was considerably older than him, married in 185535. Soon after this John was enrolled in Trinity College Dublin, where he completed a Bachelor of Divinity36. He and Hannah had a son Thomas Charles in 1857 in Dublin37. Whilst completing his studies, John took up duties as the Curate of Bray in County Wicklow. He was ordained by the Anglican Archbishop of Dublin in 1858 and became Vicar of Bray in 185938. John and Hannah stayed on in Bray until about 1861 and three more children were born39, though two died in infancy. The surviving child was Clara Vize born in about 185940. Following his posting in Ireland, John returned to England where he completed a Masters in Divinity at Oxford University, graduating in 186341. He was appointed to the Parish of Trowbridge in Wiltshire, followed in 1864 by an appointment to the Parish of Bath in Somerset42. From 1866-1869 he was Vicar of St Marys in Hulme near Manchester43. He became Vicar of Forden in Montgomeryshire, Wales in 186944. He stayed on in Forden until his retirement, where he acted as both Parish Vicar and Chaplain for the Forden Union Workhouse45. Rev Vize became somewhat of a gentleman philanthropist and naturalist. He worked hard to make improvements to the workhouse, where disease was taking a heavy toll on the inmates46. He was a well-known mycologist in the Wales and Shropshire area, and a member of the famous Woolhope Club47. He wrote many scholarly articles on fungi and molluscs and was able to make advancements in techniques for operating microscopes effectively48. He made a large collection of fungi from Wales and Shropshire, much of which is now stored in Kew Gardens49. John also published a book on the “Parish of Forden” in 188350. On taking up their post in Forden, John and Hannah placed their son Thomas in a boarding school at Chipping Camden in Gloucestershire51. Clara spent some time staying with her maiden aunts Amy and Clara who ran an educational institution for girls52, but returned to live with her parents before 188153. After Thomas completed his schooling he took a post as a tutor at the Cotteswold Middle Class School in Cirencester, Gloucestershire54. He was working there in 1881. In Forden he had a reputation as a “bad egg”55. He took passage to South Africa in the early 1880s and ended up in Kimberley in Cape Province56. At this time, Kimberley was at the heart of the diamond rush57, so Thomas may have gone there as a prospector. It seems he may have married Joanna58 and had two sons before his death: Ernest and Walter59, descendants of whom are still living in South Africa. Thomas died in Kimberley on 5 April 1887 age 30 and was buried the same day at St Cyprian’s churchyard60. Clara remained living with her parents and never married61. She worked as John’s assistant, helping him with his papers and labelling and organising specimens62. She also nursed her parents as they became elderly and unwell. John’s eyesight gave him problems63 for many years and Clara would have been invaluable to his work at this time. She had a reputation for drunkenness in Forden and villagers recalled that she was often found lying in ditches having fallen down on her way home of an evening64. Following her parents’ deaths, Clara moved to Brighton where she died on 28 August 195365. John and Hannah stayed on in Forden until about 1910 when John retired66. Hannah had been unwell for many years before this and was housebound for their last decade in Forden67. John’s own health was failing, especially his eyesight. He had been a familiar sight tearing around town in a small horse buggy68, but for the last few years in Wales was not able to do this. John, Hannah and Clara moved to Bristol69 where they lived quietly with Clara to nurse them. Hannah died in 1912 age 9470, and John followed he in 1916 age 8571. ---- 1 St Mary’s Bryanstone Square baptism register 2 Ibid. 3 St Mary's Atherstone baptism register 4 Parish marriage; 1841 England Census Mary Power, Atherstone 5 See John Vize 1804-1840 6 Holy Trinity Stratford marriage register 7 St Mary Bryanstone Square baptism register 8 circulating library ref 9 The Times of London 21 April 1832 10 St Mark’s Kennington baptism register 11 1851 England Census William Henry Vize, Tunbridge Wells druggist’s apprentice 12 St Mark’s Kennington baptism register 13 Ibid. 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid. 16 England BDM Charles Lucy Vize 17 Matilda Vize death certificate 18 National Burial Index; St Matthew’s burial register 19 Esther Vize death certificate 20 Will of Esther Vize, widow of Edmonton, Middlesex 21 John Vize death certificate 22 1841 England Census, William and Ann Lockwood, South Hackney schoolmaster 23 Ibid. 24 John Vize death certificate 25 Ibid. 26 National Burial Index; St Matthew’s burial register 27 1841 England Census John Vize, William Vize, Lucy Vize, South Hackney independent means 28 Preece, 2000 29 History of Middlesex – Hackney - Education 30 1851 England Census Lucy Vize Atherstone 31 1851 England Census John Vize, Islington accountant 32 1851 England Census William Henry Vize, Tunbridge Wells druggist’s apprentice 33 Crockfords 34 1861 England Census H L Vize; England BDM Hannah Louisa Vize 35 England BDM John Edward Vize and Hannah Louisa Ashley 36 Alumni Dublinensis; Crockfords 37 1871 England Census Thomas Charles Vize, Chipping Camden scholar 38 Crockfords 39 1911 England Census John Edward Vize Bristol retired clergyman 40 1871 England Census Clara Vize, place scholar 41 Alumni Oxfordiensis; Crockfords 42 Crockfords 43 Ibid. 44 Ibid. 45 National Dictionary of Biography 46 Preece, 2000 47 Ibid. 48 Preece 2000; ref mollusc article, ref Kew 49 ref Kew 50 British Library check 51 1871 England Census, Thomas Charles Vize, Chipping Camden scholar 52 1871 England Census Clara Vize, place scholar 53 1881 Wales Census, Clara Vize, Forden daughter 54 1881 England Census Thomas Charles Vize, Cirencester tutor 55 Judi or Dorothy? 56 South Africa Archives 57 ref re kimberley 58 South African Archives Joanna Vize death 59 South African Archives Ernest Vize death; South African Archives Walter Vize death 60 St Cyprians‘s burial register 61 1891 Wales Census Clara Vize, Forden; 1901 Wales Census Clare Vize, Forden; 1911 England Census Clare Vize Bristol 62 Preece, 2000 63 Ibid. 64 Ibid. 65 England BDM Clara Vize 66 Crockfords 67 Preece, 2000 68 Ibid. 69 1911 England Census John Edward Vize, Hannah Vize, Clara Vize, Britol retired 70 England BDM Hannah Louisa Vize 71 England BDM John Edward Vize Back to Wiki Contents page Back to Vize Biographies